TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Prominent US attorney Alan Dershowitz, a staunch defender of Israeli policies on the international stage, said Sunday he was incapable of defending. drastic judicial reform Planned by Israel’s new government.
The proposal calls for an overhaul aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, including allowing lawmakers to pass laws that the Supreme Court has overruled. More power can be gained and measures such as limiting the independence of government legal advisers will be taken.
Law reform is essential to cement the current coalition led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a conservative ultranationalist and ultra-orthodox party that seeks to reduce judicial scrutiny and advance its agenda. It consists of
Dershowitz said the reforms pose a threat to Israel’s civil liberties and minority rights.
“If I were in Israel, I would join the protests,” Dershowitz told Israeli Army Radio. Protests in Tel Aviv on Saturday Thousands gathered against the reforms.
“It will be much more difficult for people like me who try to defend Israel in an international public opinion court to do so effectively,” he said. “It is a tragedy to see the Supreme Court weakened.”
It was unusual to hear that Dershowitz, who has written a best-selling book in support of Israeli policies and is close to Netanyahu, was so strongly opposed to the proposed reforms. Dershowitz recently told Prime Minister Netanyahu that he had a “very strongly negative view” of the reforms, which he said would expose Israel to legal challenges by international bodies. International Criminal Court, etc.
Reforms could also help Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, avoid a conviction or see his trial disappear entirely. Dershowitz said he believed Netanyahu agreed to the reforms not to protect himself from conviction, but to appease his new coalition partners.
Prime Minister Netanyahu defended the reforms at a ministerial meeting later on Sunday, saying any changes would be implemented with caution.
“The claim that this reform is the end of democracy is totally baseless,” he said.
Critics accuse the government of declaring war on the legal system, and the plan will overturn Israel’s system of checks and balances, giving absolute power to the most right-wing coalition in Israel’s history, and destroying the democratic system. said to weaken the
According to the government, the plan will streamline governance and legislation while striking the right balance between the executive and judicial branches.